Basic skin cleansing activities have been long addressed by the personal care industry. Removing soil from the skin is a worldwide requirement of the consumer population that has been met by the available skin cleansing products. The consumer population is now looking for additional benefits beyond basic cleansing. Skin conditioning i.e. smoothness, texture, etc., is a desired characteristic and brought about through the presence of emollients in a basic skin cleansing composition. Additionally, the presence of components which bring about an antibacterial effect on the skin are now becoming ever more acceptable and desirable by the consumer population.
In order for these effects to be perceived by the consumer or measurable to various degrees, there must be contact of the active ingredient which brings about the effect with the skin. Therefore, increased deposition of an active ingredient on the skin is certainly desirable since a greater effect should normally follow and less active ingredient may be employed, thereby potentially reducing the cost of the formulation.
A new way of increasing the deposition of hydrophobic active ingredients from skin cleansing compositions has been discovered. This provides both liquid and solid skin cleansing compositions with the ability to deliver greater quantities of active ingredients to the skin during an ordinary skin cleansing procedure and/or maintain them on the skin for a longer period of time.